Creating a scene for progeny claims adjustment

ABSTRACT

Methods and apparatus provide for an automated system for analyzing damage to insured property. A server may receive images of a scene (e.g., a room, house, apartment, etc.) from a user at a mobile device. The server may analyze the images to create a holistic view of the scene. The server and/or mobile device may be able to generate dimensions of the scene and compare those dimensions to the dimensions of a damaged property at the scene to determine the extent of damage to the property. The server may also be able to detect gaps between images as it creates the holistic view of the scene.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of and claims priority to co-pendingU.S. application Ser. No. 15/080,777, filed Mar. 25, 2016 and entitled,“Creating a Scene for Property Claims Adjustment,” which is acontinuation of and claims priority to Ser. No. 14/061,438, filed Oct.23, 2013, and entitled “Creating a Scene for Property ClaimsAdjustment.” This application is also a continuation of and claimspriority to co-pending U.S. application Ser. No. 15/699,409, filed Sep.8, 2017, and entitled, “Creating a Scene for Property ClaimsAdjustment.” All of these applications are incorporated herein byreference in their entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to systems and methods for analyzingproperty damage for insurance purposes.

BACKGROUND

Conventional insurance claims processing is a complex process thatstarts with a first notification of loss related to an insured item.Upon notification of loss, the claim may be routed to multiple claimsadjusters that analyze different aspects of the damage associated withthe insured item in order to determine whether compensation for the lossis appropriate.

In general, conventional claims adjustment can involve paperworkprocessing, telephone calls, and potentially face-to-face meetingsbetween claimant and adjuster. In addition, a significant amount of timecan elapse between a first notice of loss from the claimant and thefinal settlement of the claim.

In addition, while consumers may take advantage of conventional claimsprocessing to determine if they will receive any compensation for lossassociated with an item, consumers have traditionally had very fewoptions for obtaining advice associated with loss prior to submission ofan insurance claim.

SUMMARY

The following presents a simplified summary of the present disclosure inorder to provide a basic understanding of some aspects of thedisclosure. This summary is not an extensive overview of the disclosure.It is not intended to identify key or critical elements of thedisclosure or to delineate the scope of the disclosure. The followingsummary merely presents some concepts of the disclosure in a simplifiedform as a prelude to the more detailed description provided below.

Certain aspects disclose a method comprising: receiving, at a server,images of at least one room from a mobile device; receiving, at aserver, images of at least one room from a mobile device; storing theimages at the server; generating, at the server, dimensions of the atleast one room; and comparing, at the server, the dimensions of the atleast one room to an at least one damaged item in the at least one roomto determine the extent of the damage to the at least one damaged item.

Certain other aspects disclose a non-transitory computer-readablestorage medium having computer-executable program instructions storedthereon that when executed by a processor, cause the processor at leastto: receive, at a server, images of at least one room from a mobiledevice; store the images at the server; generate, at the server,dimensions of the at least one room; and compare, at the server, thedimensions of the at least one room to an at least one damaged item inthe at least one room to determine the extent of the damage to the atleast one damaged item.

Certain other aspects disclose an apparatus comprising: a processor; anda memory storing computer-readable instructions that, when executed bythe processor, cause the apparatus at least to: receive images of atleast one room from a mobile device; store the images at the server;generate dimensions of the at least one room; and compare the dimensionsof the at least one room to an at least one damaged item in the at leastone room to determine the extent of the damage to the at least onedamaged item.

The details of these and other embodiments of the disclosure are setforth in the accompanying drawings and description below. Other featuresand advantages of aspects of the disclosure will be apparent from thedescription, drawings, and claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

All descriptions are exemplary and explanatory only and are not intendedto restrict the disclosure, as claimed. The accompanying drawings, whichare incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification,illustrate embodiments of the disclosure and, together with thedescription, sever to explain principles of the disclosure. In thedrawings:

FIG. 1 shows an illustrative operating environment in which variousaspects of the disclosure may be implemented.

FIG. 2 shows an illustrative block diagram of workstations and serversthat may be used to implement the processes and function of one or moreaspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 shows a flow chart of a process for interacting with a server inaccordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 shows a flow chart of a property damage estimator process inaccordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure.

FIGS. 5-12 show illustrative screen shots of a mobile application inaccordance with various aspects of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In accordance with various aspects of the disclosure, methods,non-transitory computer-readable media, and apparatuses are disclosedfor adjusting property claims. In certain aspects, when a serverreceives data from a computing device, the server processes and analyzesthe data.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a suitable computing system environment100 that may be used according to one or more illustrative embodiments.The computing system environment 100 is only one example of a suitablecomputing environment and is not intended to suggest any limitation asto the scope of use or functionality contained in the disclosure. Thecomputing system environment 100 should not be interpreted as having anydependency or requirement relating to any one or combination ofcomponents shown in the illustrative computing system environment 100.

The disclosure is operational with numerous other general purpose orspecial purpose computing system environments or configurations.Examples of well-known computing systems, environments, and/orconfigurations that may be suitable for use with the disclosedembodiments include, but are not limited to, personal computers (PCs),server computers, hand-held or laptop devices, multiprocessor systems,microprocessor-based systems, set-top boxes, programmable consumerelectronics, network PCs, minicomputers, mainframe computers,distributed computing environments that include any of the above systemsor devices, and the like.

With reference to FIG. 1, the computing system environment 100 mayinclude a server 101 wherein the processes discussed herein may beimplemented. The server 101 may have a processor 103 for controlling theoverall operation of the server 101 and its associated components,including random-access memory (RAM) 105, read-only memory (ROM) 107,communications module 109, and memory 115. Processor 103 and itsassociated components may allow the server 101 to run a series ofcomputer-readable instructions related to receiving, storing, andanalyzing data to determine an event's risk level.

Server 101 typically includes a variety of computer-readable media.Computer-readable media may be any available media that may be accessedby server 101 and include both volatile and non-volatile media,removable and non-removable media. For example, computer-readable mediamay comprise a combination of computer storage media and communicationmedia.

Computer storage media include volatile and non-volatile, removable andnon-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storageof information such as computer-readable instructions, data structures,program modules, or other data. Computer storage media include, but arenot limited to, random access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM),electronically erasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM), flashmemory or other memory technology, CD-ROM, digital versatile disks (DVD)or other optical disk storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape,magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any othermedium that can be used to store the desired information that can beaccessed by server 101.

Computing system environment 100 may also include optical scanners (notshown). Exemplary usages include scanning and converting paperdocuments, such as correspondence, data, and the like to digital files.

Although not shown, RAM 105 may include one or more applicationsrepresenting the application data stored in RAM 105 while the server 101is on and corresponding software applications (e.g., software tasks) arerunning on the server 101.

Communications module 109 may include a microphone, keypad, touchscreen, and/or stylus through which a user of server 101 may provideinput, and may also include one or more of a speaker for providing audiooutput and a video display device for providing textual, audiovisualand/or graphical output.

Software may be stored within memory 115 and/or storage to provideinstructions to processor 103 for enabling server 101 to perform variousfunctions. For example, memory 115 may store software used by the server101, such as an operating system 117, application programs 119, and anassociated database 121. Also, some or all of the computer executableinstructions for server 101 may be embodied in hardware or firmware.

Server 101 may operate in a networked environment supporting connectionsto one or more remote computing devices, such as computing devices 141and 151. The computing devices 141 and 151 may be personal computingdevices or servers that include many or all of the elements describedabove relative to the server 101.

The network connections depicted in FIG. 1 include a local area network(LAN) 125 and a wide area network (WAN) 129, but may also include othernetworks. When used in a LAN networking environment, server 101 may beconnected to the LAN 125 through a network interface or adapter in thecommunications module 109. When used in a WAN networking environment,the server 101 may include a modem in the communications module 109 orother means for establishing communications over the WAN 129, such asthe Internet 131 or other type of computer network. It will beappreciated that the network connections shown are illustrative andother means of establishing a communications link between the computingdevices may be used. Various well-known protocols such as TCP/IP,Ethernet, FTP, HTTP and the like may be used, and the system may beoperated in a client-server configuration to permit a user to retrieveweb pages from a web-based server. Any of various conventional webbrowsers may be used to display and manipulate on web pages.

Additionally, one or more application programs 119 used by the server101, according to an illustrative embodiment, may include computerexecutable instructions for invoking functionality related tocommunication including, for example, email short message service (SMS),and voice input and speech recognition applications. In addition, theapplication programs 119 may include computer executable instructionsfor invoking user functionality related to access a centralizedrepository for performing various service tasks like routing, logging,and protocol bridging.

Embodiments of the disclosure may include forms of computer-readablemedia. Computer-readable media include any available media that can beaccessed by a server 101. Computer-readable media may comprise storagemedia and communication media and in some examples may benon-transitory. Storage media include volatile and nonvolatile,removable and non-removable media implemented in any method ortechnology for storage of information such as computer-readableinstructions, object code, data structures, program modules, or otherdata. Communication media include any information delivery media andtypically embody data in a modulated data signal such as a carrier waveor other transport mechanism.

Various aspects described herein may be embodied as a method, a dataprocessing system, or as a computer-readable medium storingcomputer-executable instructions. For example, a computer-readablemedium storing instructions to cause a processor to perform steps of amethod in accordance with aspects of the disclosed embodiments iscontemplated. For instance, aspects of the method steps disclosed hereinmay be executed on a processor 103 on server 101. Such a processor mayexecute computer-executable instructions stored on a computer-readablemedium.

FIG. 2 illustrates another example operating environment in whichvarious aspects of the disclosure may be implemented. As illustrated,system 200 may include one or more network devices 201. Devices 201 maybe local or remote, and are connected by one or more communicationslinks 202 to computer network 203 that is linked via communicationslinks 205 to enhanced claims processing server 101. In certainembodiments, network devices 201 may run different algorithms used byserver 101 for analyzing image data showing damage associated with aninsured item, or, in other embodiments, network devices 201 may be datastores for storing reference image data of insured items. In yet otherembodiments, network devices 201 may represent mobile user devicesconfigured to capture image data (e.g., via a camera, etc.) associatedwith a damaged insured item and to transmit the image data to server101. In system 200, enhanced claims processing server 101 may be anysuitable server, processor, computer, or data processing device, orcombination of the same.

Computer network 203 may be any suitable computer network including theInternet, an intranet, a wide-area network (WAN), a local-area network(LAN), a wireless network, a digital subscriber line (DSL) network, aframe relay network, an asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) network, avirtual private network (VPN), or any combination of any of the same.Communications links 202 and 205 may be any communications linkssuitable for communicating between network devices 201 and server 101,such as network links, dial-up links, wireless links, hard-wired links,etc.

In accordance with aspects of the disclosure, a user (e.g., a claimant)of a mobile device (e.g., mobile phone, personal digital assistant(PDA), etc.) may take a variety of photos (or, e.g., audio or video)associated with damage to insured property. The photos may includeindividual property items, such as a sofa, a dresser, a television, etc.The photos may also include dwellings, such as houses, apartments units,offices, etc. In some aspects, the photos may also include portions of adwelling, such as a door, window, wall, etc. Furthermore, the photos mayinclude documents.

After the user is satisfied that the appropriate photos have been taken,the user may transmit the photos to an enhanced claims processing server101. The enhanced claims processing server 101 (or, e.g., the mobiledevice) may be configured to receive and analyze the photos to determineif they meet a predefined set of criteria (e.g., not too blurry, correctangles, etc.) for completeness, accuracy, etc. If the photos do not meetthe minimum criteria, server 101 may transmit a message (e.g., via afeedback loop), informing the mobile device that alternative and/oradditional photos must be taken. This process of assuring that thephotos are compliant for further analysis may be repeated until the userof device 201 has complied with all of the rules set forth by enhancedclaims processing server 101. Server 101 may then analyze the photos togenerate an output, including a cost estimate to repair the damageassociated with the insured property and/or to replace a damaged part ofthe insured property. In some aspects, to generate this output, server101 may analyze the photos and determine the location of damage, extentof damage, and/or the cost to fix the damage.

Although embodiments of the disclosure discussed herein relate to aninsured property analyzed by enhanced claims processing server 101, oneof ordinary skill in the art would recognize that other types of insureditems, including automobiles, may be employed with a similar scheme.

In certain aspects, server 101 may aid in cutting down time between afirst notice of loss and settlement of the claim (e.g., real-timesettlement of a claim) associated with the loss (e.g., via a paymentand/or information regarding repair/replacement of an insured item). Inaddition, because the methods discussed herein are automated and allowclaims adjusters to inspect damages remotely or reduce the involvementof claims adjusters, less time and money may be spent to transport theseadjusters to inspection locations. The automated nature of this processmay also create the opportunity for remote human inspections of damageassociated with insured items.

Having described an example of a computing device that can be used inimplementing various aspects of the disclosure and an operatingenvironment in which various aspects of the disclosure can beimplemented, several embodiments will now be discussed in greaterdetail.

FIG. 3 shows an automated damage assessment process 300 in accordancewith at least one aspect of the present disclosure. In certain aspects,an application related to damage assessment and claims processing may bedownloaded onto a mobile device (e.g., iPad™ iPhone™, Android™, etc.)associated with a user (e.g., a customer of an insurance company) tofacilitate one or more steps of the process in FIG. 3.

The process illustrated in FIG. 3 may begin at step 301 where a user(e.g., a customer) associated with an entity managing enhanced claimsprocessing server 101 (e.g., insurance company) may enter a claim number(e.g., a number related to damage associated with an insured vehicle,etc.) into a damage assessment and claims processing application runningon a mobile device (e.g., network device 201). To generate a claimnumber, a claimant may contact an entity managing enhanced claimsprocessing server 101 (e.g., an insurance company, etc.) with a firstnotice of loss (FNOL). The claimant may contact the insurance company inany number of ways, including via agent, by phone, by email, via acompany website, etc. As part of the FNOL, the claimant may providebasic identifying and/or validating information (e.g., name, age, claimnumber, etc.) and information about the insured property (e.g., adescription of the property). The claimant may also provide the generaldescription of the damage to the property and describe, if known, howthe damage occurred. In some embodiments, this information may beprovided from a remote location (e.g., claimant's home, agent's office,etc.) using an application loaded onto a smart phone or tablet (e.g.,iPad™, iPhone™, Android™ etc.).

The mobile device may then transmit the entered claim number and relatedinformation to enhanced claims processing server 101. The process maythen move to step 303 where server 101 may determine, at a claimvalidation module (stored in memory 115), if the claim number receivedin step 301 is valid. If the claim validation module determines that theclaim number is not valid, then server 101 may transmit a message to themobile device, stating that the claim number is invalid in step 305. Theuser may then be prompted to enter another claim number (step 301).

If the claim validation module determines that the claim number isvalid, the process may move to step 307 where server 101 may send theuser instructions of the types of image data (e.g., photos, video,audio, etc.) that should be captured of damage associated with theinsured property. It should also be noted that in some embodimentsserver 101 may not receive a claim number and may proceed in providinguser instructions on the types of image data that should be capturedwithout receiving a claim number. The user may receive instructions onvarious types of photos/video, including photos/video of the insuredproperty or items. In some aspects, the user may capture image datarelated to at least two different angles of the damage for each panel(e.g., hood, fender, door, bumper, etc.) based on an initial claimdescription. The user may also capture image data related to property(e.g., house, apartment, etc.).

When the user of the mobile device receives these instructions, the usermay use a camera associated with the mobile device to take the photosand transmit these photos to the server 101. The user may be allowed topreview each photo before selecting the image. Once a photo has beenselected, the image may be shown on a display associated with the mobiledevice under a photo type (e.g., a photo of the entire damaged property,a portion of the property, the particular angle of the property, etc.).If the user is not satisfied with any photo, the user may delete thephoto by selecting it and then retake the photo. In some aspects, theuser may annotate the photos (e.g., by circling the area of damage,etc.) prior to transmitting them to server 101. In yet otherembodiments, server 101 or the insurance company may itself annotate anyreceived photos/video using an annotation module stored in memory 115.

In some embodiments, any approved photo may not be sent to server 101until all of the images have been captured. In some aspects, server 101may support a website interface through which photos may be uploaded bya user of a mobile device. Also, the use of multiple photos (e.g., viastereoscopic techniques), video (e.g., by walking around the house togenerate a complete view), and/or three-dimensional photos/video mayassist in determining the depth of damage to an insured item orproperty. In addition, the degree of damage by area and depth may beautomatically estimated through tools similar to ultrasound tools.Knowing the depth of damage may also assist in automatically determiningthe cost of repair or replacement. In addition, as the user is takingvideo/photos of damage associated with the insured item or property, aclaims adjuster associated with server 101 (e.g., an insurance company)may interface with the user in real-time (e.g., via messaging, phone,email, etc.) as the photos are being sent to the adjuster and/or as thevideo is being streamed to the adjuster and describe to the user thephotos/video that still need to be taken and/or where to place a cameraas the photos/video are captured.

In some aspects, an insurance employee (e.g., a claims adjuster,mitigation vendor, agent, etc.) may control the image being captured bythe mobile device via an image control module stored in server 101. Theuser may hold the mobile device with photographic and/or video capturingcapabilities activated. The user may be located at a remote locationfrom the insurance employee. However, using the image control module,the insurance employee may be able to view the displays from the mobiledevice (e.g., the mobile device may include a camera which the user isholding to display a damaged house, etc.) and control the imagecapturing functionality in real time (e.g., the insurance employee mayzoom in or zoom out, adjust lighting and flash, etc.). The insuranceemployee may control the mobile device by accessing a website hosted byserver 101, launching software, etc. In some aspects, the insuranceemployee may adjust the direction the camera included in the mobiledevice is facing. In other aspects, the insurance employee maycommunicate with the user (e.g., via telephone, email, instantmessaging, etc.) and instruct the user where to focus the camera lens(e.g., insurance employee may tell the user to move the camera five feetto the left so the insurance employee can get a better view of thedamaged property, etc.). Thus, as described further herein, descriptionsof use of the mobile device by a user may be equally applicable toinsurance employees operating the mobile device remotely.

In certain aspects, the mobile device may account for networkconsiderations and include a shoot now, transfer later module. Usingthis module, a user may capture an image (e.g., photo, video, audio,etc.) with the mobile device. The image may preferably be captured inhigh definition resolution, but may alternatively be captured with lowerresolution. Although the image (e.g., damaged insured property or items)may be captured in high definition, network conditions (e.g., lowbandwidth, mobile device troubleshooting, etc.) may not allow transferof the image to server 101 in high definition. Therefore, in someaspects, the mobile device may capture the image and store the imagelocally at the mobile device. The mobile device may store multipleimages until network conditions improve, and then automatically transferthe images to server 101 in high definition. In some aspects, the mobiledevice may store the images locally until the user prompts the mobiledevice to transfer the images to server 101 in high definition. Theshoot now, transfer later module may, therefore, lower mobile devicedata costs for the user because s/he will not be required to pay extracosts to transfer the image when there are bandwidth constraints.Instead, the user may transfer the images once the mobile device isconnected to other networks (e.g., Wi-Fi network, etc.).

In some embodiments, the mobile device may include a time-shiftingmodule. The time-shifting module allows a user to capture and storeimages with the mobile device in high definition. When networkconditions are poor, the mobile device may transfer the images to server101 in low definition in real time. Later, when network conditionspermit, the mobile device may transfer the same images in highdefinition. The mobile device may transfer the images automatically orwhen prompted by the user.

In some aspects, the mobile device may capture images in low definitionas a default. When there are noteworthy items or property, the mobiledevice may capture those images in high definition. For instance, a usermay wish to capture images of fire damage to his house. So, the user maycapture video of the house using the mobile device. As he walks aroundthe house to capture all the damage to the property, the mobile devicemay transfer the video to server 101 in low definition for areas of thehouse that are not damaged. When the mobile device captures areas of thehouse that have been damaged (e.g., noteworthy items or property), themobile device may send the images of damaged property in highdefinition. In certain aspects, the user may determine the noteworthyproperty and transfer those images in high definition (e.g., user mayselect a button on the mobile device to transfer in high definition,etc.). In some aspects, and as will be discussed in greater detailbelow, the mobile device may determine which images are noteworthy bycomparing items in the images to items stored in images in memory 115.After the noteworthy image has been captured in high definition, themobile device may automatically switch back to capturing images in lowdefinition.

In some aspects, the mobile device may include one or more sensors(e.g., accelerometer, compass, thermometer, etc.). As described ingreater detail below, the sensors may be used by server 101 and theentity associated with server 101 (e.g., an insurance company), todetect fraud. In certain aspects, the mobile device may also include ageocalculation module. The geocalculation module may allow the user toset reminders to capture and transfer images of insured property. Forexample, a user may access the property imaging application from hersmart phone. The user may select an option from the application to bereminded to capture images of her property when she returns home. Thegeocalculation module stored in the mobile device may be able to detectwhen the user returns home (e.g., using a compass, accelerometer, etc.),and prompt (e.g, audio prompt, graphical, etc.) the user to send aproperty image. It should be appreciated that the geocalculation modulemay be enabled to prompt the user for various locations outside the home(e.g., office, and other locations).

In certain aspects, server 101 may include a scene capture module inmemory 115. The scene capture module may enable server 101 to create amore holistic view of the property captured by the mobile devices. Anexemplary process with which a screen capture module may operate isillustrated in FIG. 4. The screen capture module may receive images fromone or more mobile devices at step 401. In some aspects, user may use amobile device to capture images of property after damage has occurred.In some aspects, the user may capture images of property before damagehas occurred. By capturing and transferring images of property prior todamage, and again after damage has occurred, the user is able tomaintain “before and after” images of his insured property. The imagesmay be stored in the mobile device, or server 101, or both.

After server 101 receives the images at step 401, it may store theimages at step 403. The images may be stored in memory 115, for examplein database 121.

At step 405, the server 101 may generate dimensions of a property (e.g.,house, room, apartment unit, etc.). In some aspects, the user mayprovide the dimensions of the property to server 101 (e.g., via themobile application, website, etc.). For example, a user may capturevideo of his house and input the dimensions of each wall into the mobiledevice as he walks around the house. Server 101 may store thesegenerated dimensions at memory 115. In certain aspects, server 101 mayaccess public records (e.g., via the Internet) to generate thedimensions of an insured property. Server 101 may associate thedimensions of the insured property with other data stored for thatparticular user in memory 115 (e.g., using a unique identifier).

The mobile application running on a mobile device may be able todetermine the dimensions of the property being captured by the mobiledevice. The mobile application, or e.g., server 101 or mobile device,may include a measurement component (e.g., a ruler, etc.), that may beable to automatically determine the dimensions of a property. Bycapturing video or photos, the mobile device may be able to determinethe dimensions of the property automatically. In some aspects, themobile device may use sensors to aid in determining the dimensions ofthe property. In some aspects, the mobile device or server 101 mayautomatically identify items in a room, and automatically generate thedimensions of the room by providing an overlay of rulers over items inthe room. In certain aspects, the mobile device and/or server 101 maycapture three-dimensional views of the room and items within the room(e.g., using the sensors and overlay of rulers).

In certain aspects, an autostitch module in server 101 may aid the scenecapture module in generating the dimensions of a property. Theautostitch module may autostitch photos taken by a mobile device usingmetadata (e.g., compass, geotag, accelerometer tracking movement of themobile device, etc.). In other words, the autostitch module may enableserver 101 to combine photos it receives from a mobile device in orderto create an automatic scene of a room, including the content of theroom. A user may walk around a room or series of rooms, takingphotographs of each room from multiple viewpoints. The mobile devicecapturing the photographs may then transfer the photographs to server101, where the photographs may be stored in memory 115. As server 101receives the photographs, or in some aspects, after server 101 receivesall of the photographs, the autostitch module may combine (or stitch)the photos together to generate a panoramic view of each room. Thepanoramic view may allow an insurance employee (e.g., adjuster) to viewa scene more clearly, with a 360 degree view of the rooms. Server 101may use the autostitch module to generate a three-dimensional view ofthe rooms and contents of the rooms.

The autostitch module may also allow an insurance employee to determinegaps (e.g., portions of the property that are not captured between twostitched images) in the scene of a property. In some aspects, server 101may recognize the gaps in the images automatically. In other aspects, aninsurance employee may identify gaps by accessing server 101. Forinstance, a user may take photographs of his insured house using amobile device after damage to a room. The user may access the propertyimaging mobile application on the mobile device to send his photographsto an insurance adjuster in real time. The user may also be speaking tothe insurance adjuster over the phone as he uses the mobile device. Asthe user walks around the damaged room, server 101 may autostitchreceived photos for panoramic display by the insurance adjuster. Server101 or the insurance adjuster may notice gaps between received photos(e.g., blank spaces, visual indicators, etc. between photos), and theadjuster may instruct the user to take another photograph at thelocation of the gap to complete the panoramic view. In some aspects,server 101 may use metadata (e.g., data from accelerometer, compass,etc. recorded by mobile device) to determine a gap's location.

The mobile device may use third-party applications (e.g., MagicPlan bySensopia) to aid in stitching photos together. The third-partyapplications may perform edge detection in images (e.g., of walls) andidentify corners, thereby aiding server 101 in creating a more holisticview of the scene.

In some aspects, after dimensions of the property have been generated atstep 405, server 101 may compare the dimensions of the property to thedamaged items to determine the extent of damage to the items at step407. For example, if a user wants to report damage to a portion of awall in a room of her house, she may capture images with her mobiledevice for transfer to server 101 as described above. After server 101,generates the dimensions for the room with the damaged wall (e.g., thewall may be 10 feet long), server 101 may compare the damaged area ofthe wall to the dimensions of the entire wall to determine the size ofthe damaged area (e.g., damaged area may be determined to be 2 feetlong). Server 101 may use a damage extent module (e.g., stored in memory115) to perform similar calculations for various dimensions of thedamage (e.g., length, width, depth, etc.). Server 101 may performsimilar calculations for damaged items (e.g., dresser, television,table, etc.) in a room as well. For instance, server 101 may determinethat a wall in the room containing a damaged dresser is 10 feet long.The damage extent module may analyze the images of the room and dresserto scale and determine that the dresser contains a 6 inch cut along itsside. Thus, server 101 may be able to determine the extent of damage toproperty and items (e.g., insured property and items) based oncomparison with generated dimension of the property at step 405.

In certain aspects, mobile device may utilize overlay rulers toautomatically measure items in a room. Similar to the method ofgenerating dimensions of property to determine the extent of damagediscussed above, the damage extent module may determine the dimensionsof items in a room (e.g., using sensors in the mobile device to recordresults which may be analyzed at server 101). The dimensions of theitems may be compared to the damage in the room to determine the extentof the damage in the room (e.g., server 101 may compare a tabledetermined to be 3 feet high to the damage reported at a door todetermine that the damage to the door is 1 foot in length). In someaspects, as will be discussed in greater detail below, server 101 mayautomatically identify items in a room, and may compare these items tothe damage to gain a frame of reference for the damage. For example,server 101 (or the mobile device) may receive images and automaticallyidentify a lamp. By comparing the lamp to the damage, server 101 gains aframe of reference for the extent of the damage. In such aspects, server101 may not necessarily obtain precise dimensions of the damage, but mayinstead obtain an estimated size of the damage (e.g., damage is lessthan the size of a table lamp). In certain aspects, server 101 mayidentify hot areas for automatic identification of items (e.g., areaswith significant anomalies in received images).

When determining the extent of damage to property (e.g., insuredproperty), server 101 may compare images of the property after thedamage has occurred with images of the property prior to the damage.Server 101 or a third-party (e.g., an insurance employee) may comparethe before and after images to obtain a more complete understanding ofthe damage. The images prior to the damage may illustrate the conditionof the property (e.g., television, desk, etc.) prior to a FNOL andenable server 101 (or insurance employee) to determine whether theproperty was in pristine condition, showing signs of wear and tear,already damaged, etc. Comparison of the image with images received aftera FNOL may provide an insurance company with greater insight indetermining a proper claims adjustment.

FIGS. 5-12 shows various display screens displayed to a user of a mobiledevice in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. FIG. 5illustrates a series of initial display screens displayed when a userstarts a property damage estimator (e.g., property imaging) applicationstored on a mobile device (e.g., network device 201) in accordance withat least one aspect of the present disclosure. Screen 501 may be theinitial screen the user views upon launching the property damageestimator application (hereinafter, “the Application”). Screen 501 mayautomatically transition to screen 503. Screen 503 may allow a user toinput information into the Application. The user may be prompted toinput information such as the user's name, policy, claim number, email,etc. In certain aspects, the claim number may be used to compare adamage estimate generated by analysis of images submitted by the user toa damage estimate generated manually by a claims adjuster using moreconventional claims adjustment techniques. The user may enter theinformation using keypad provided by the mobile device. After the userhas entered the requisite information, the user may select the “Connect”button (highlighted on the upper right corner of screen 503). If so,screen 503 may automatically transition to screen 505. Screen 505 maydisplay a message (e.g., “Please wait while we connect to your claiminformation . . . ”) to notify the user that the Application istransitioning between screens. Screen 505 may be displayed between anytwo screens to notify the user that the Application is connecting toserver 101, or to provide any similar type of notification betweenscreens.

In some aspects, the Application may, then, transition to imagesdisplayed in FIG. 6.

Screen 601 an Incident Activity screen. An Incident Activity screen mayserve as a type of home screen for each particular user. As shown inscreen 601, the Incident Activity screen may include the user's name andclaim number. Screen 601 may also display an inbox of user messages. Byselecting the messages button 601 a, the user may access messages it hasreceived and sent (e.g., correspondence with an insurance company).

In certain aspects, the fields populated on screen 601 (e.g., damagesareas: kitchen 601 c and dining room 601 d) may be populated from server101 after the user submits a claim. For example, the user may havesubmitted a claim for water damage which affected the user's kitchen anddining room. Therefore, server 101 may provide screen 601 with thedamaged areas fields identified as the kitchen and dining room.Conversely, if the user submitted a claim only identifying the livingroom as the damaged area, screen 601 may display damaged areas as onlythe living room. In some aspects, screen 601 may list various rooms forthe user to choose from, without requiring the user to first submit aclaim to an insurance agency.

Screens 603 and 605 are examples of instructions 307 that may beprovided to the user. Screens 603 and 605 may be displayed prior toscreen 601, or displayed prior to screen 601 only for first time usersof the Application, or immediately after screen 601, or upon request bythe user. Screen 603 may provide a user with instructions fordocumenting damages to property and items. When a user selects the GetStarted button 603 a, a tutorial may be displayed to walk the userthrough the process of documenting the damage to property and items. Thetutorial may be an exemplary video, series of instructions via text,images, video, and/or audio, etc.

After displaying screen 603, or after a user selects Source of Damagebutton 601 a from screen 601, the mobile device may display screen 605.Screen 605 may provide the user with instructions (e.g., text, images,video, audio, etc.) for capturing images of the source of the damagedproperty (e.g., busted water pipe, source of fire, etc.). The user may,then, proceed to take photos of the source of damage by selecting button605 a.

Camera screen 701, in FIG. 7, illustrates a screen that may be displayedafter a user selects button 605 a in screen 605 or 601 b in screen 601.Camera screen 701 may enable a user to capture images of the source ofdamage. The blank area in camera screen 701 may be where a user may viewthe images he wishes to capture. By maneuvering the mobile device, whichmay include a camera lens, the user may view where the lens is focusedvia camera screen 701. When the user is ready to capture an image (e.g.,photograph, video, etc.), he may select shutter button 701 a to capturethe image as highlighted. The user may turn the camera flash on or offby selecting button 701 c or escape to Incident Activity screen 601 byselecting the Cancel button 701 b.

After the user selects the shutter button 701 a, screen 701 maytransition to screen 703 for display to the user. Screen 703 allows theuser to review the image captured in screen 701. The user may select theRetake button 703 a to discard the captured image and return to screen701. If the user is satisfied with the image, he may select the Usebutton 703 b as highlighted.

After the user selects the use button 703 b, the mobile device maydisplay screen 705. Screen 705 may display the captured image with threebutton options for the user (705 a, 705 b, and 705 c). If the userselects Add Caption button 705 a, a dropdown menu may be provided wherethe user may input additional text via the mobile device's keypad (or,e.g., via voice). The user may provide captioning to add context to thecaptured image. The user may decide whether he would like to captureanother image of the source of damage. If so, the user may select Takeanother photo button 705 b as highlighted. If the user selects button705 b, the captured image may be sent to server 101, and the mobiledevice may display camera screen 701 to enable the user to take anotherphoto of the source of damage and repeat the process from screen 701 to705. If the user does not want to take another photo, he may select theContinue button 705 c. Selecting button 705 c may transfer the image tothe server and display screen 801 on the mobile device.

FIG. 8 illustrates screens 801, 803, and 805. Screen 801 displays anupdated Incident Activity screen 601. After server 101 has received theimages of the source of damage, screen 801 may be displayed to the userwith the indication that the user has provided the source of damage(e.g., the check mark in Source of Damage button 801 b). The user mayproceed to provide images of the damaged areas (in this case, byselecting Kitchen button 801 c as highlighted). When the user selectsKitchen button 801 c, mobile device may display screen 803 to providethe user with instructions for capturing images of the property damage(e.g., damage photos). As shown in screen 803, the user may be promptedwith instructions (e.g., “Take at least 3 photos of the damaged area”).Once the user has understood the instructions, he may select the TakePhoto button 803 a.

The selection of button 803 a may prompt the mobile device to displayscreens similar those shown in FIG. 7. The mobile device may, first,display a screen similar to screen 701 a to enable the user to capturedamage photos. After the user captures the damage photos, the mobiledevice may display a screen similar to screen 703, so the user mayreview the damage photo. When the user elects to use the photo, themobile device may display a screen similar to screen 705 allowing theuser to add captions, take another photo, or continue. This process mayrepeat until the user has satisfied the provided instructions (e.g.,taken at least 3 photos of the damaged area). Each image captured at themobile device may be transferred to server 101 for storage and analysis.

The mobile device may, next, display screen 805. Screen 805 may provideinstructions to the user for capturing images of a room where damageoccurred (e.g., “Step back and capture as much of the room aspossible.”). After viewing the instructions on screen 805, the user mayselect the Take Photos button 805 a. Thereafter, the user mobile devicemay again display the screens shown in FIG. 7 and described above toenable the user to capture, review, and transfer images of the room.Server 101 may receive the images and create blueprint or model of theroom using the autostitch module described above.

As server 101 receives images from the mobile device it may store theimages in memory 115. Memory 115 may store (e.g., in database 121)various images of properties and items. The images may include thosereceived from users via mobile devices or from other sources (e.g.,websites, inputted by insurance company, etc.). Each of the images maybe stored in database 121 and catalogued with descriptors (e.g.,description of the item, price, cause of damage if any, condition of theitem, etc.). Server 101 may also include an image recognition modulewhich may be able to compare received images to those images stored indatabase 121 to automatically recognize the received images. Forexample, a user may capture a photo of a door with her mobile device andtransfer the image to server 101. Server 101 may use the imagerecognition module to compare the received image to the repository ofimages stored in database 121. In some aspects, server 101 may utilizedescriptions provided by the user to narrow the search in database 121(e.g., if the user adds a caption with “door” included, the imagerecognition module may narrow its search to images associated with thedescriptor “door”). In certain aspects, the image recognition module mayidentify doors with similar types of damage (e.g., visually similardamages, damage occurring from same type of source, etc.) and mayprovide automatic estimates for the damage based on previous estimatesfor the stored doors with similar damage (e.g., a door with similardamage stored in database 121 cost $200 to repair, so provide anestimate of $200 for the received image displaying similar damage to asimilar door).

The image recognition module may be able to automatically tag an imageso that it is stored in database with other descriptors (e.g., imagedisplays a door, door is made of X materials, the door's dimensions are8 feet by 4 feet, etc.). Providing the various descriptors andcategories may allow server 101 to more easily retrieve pertinent imagesby particular categories from database 121. For instance, server 101 maybe able to sort doors stored in database 121 by dimensions to identifysimilarly sized doors, then by types of damage to find a door that wasdamaged by fire, etc. Server 101 may keep narrowing its search until itidentifies an item most similar to that displayed in a received image.

Database 121 may allow for smart storage to prioritize what an insuranceemployee (e.g., adjuster) views first. For example, server 101 may firstdisplay the source of damage or the entire scene of the room first toprovide the adjuster with perspective prior to viewing the damageditems. The image recognition module may be able to separate an itemshown in an image for content, thereby providing the adjuster with amore in-depth view of the damaged item. In some aspects, server 101 maycreate a list of items identified in an image of a room received fromthe mobile device

In some aspects, server 101 may create a list of items identified in animage of a room received from the mobile device. The image recognitionmodule may identify the items in images of a room (e.g., not only thedamaged items submitted by the user, but other items located in theroom) and store the list with an associated user's profile in memory 115(e.g., in database 121). In certain aspects, the user may aid the server101 or adjuster in tagging various items in an image (e.g., viatelephone, communicating through the Application, etc.). The images maybe stored in memory 115 and used by the insurance company for variousreasons (e.g., fraud detection in subsequent claims, identifyinguninsured items for which to offer insurance, store in the imagerepository for later comparison, etc.). In some aspects, server 101 mayalso identify other properties displayed in the received images that maybenefit from the insurance company. For instance, a user may capturephotos of the outside of her house after damage by a flood, and theremay be another damaged house displayed in the background of the image.The image recognition module may identify the damage and alert aninsurance employee at a workbench. The insurance employee or server 101may utilize this information along with other information received fromsensors at the mobile device to determine the damaged house's locationand offer insurance, offer to dispatch assistance to the home (e.g.,plumber, electrician), etc. Similarly, if a catastrophe (e.g., flood,fire, etc.) were to occur, the mobile device may automatically pushnotifications to the Application asking whether users in the catastrophezone would like to use the Application to submit a property claim.Likewise, server 101 may perform mitigation dispatch to a user'sresidence using image recognition module. For example, server 101 (or,e.g., an insurance employee) may identify that there is significantwater damage in a submitted video or photo (e.g., server 101 mayrecognize that a pipe is spewing water, moisture in the room, etc.) andautomatically generate a message to send out a mitigation vendor (e.g.,plumber) to the user's location.

In some aspects, a user may use the Application to submit FNOL. Forinstance, the user may take a photo of damage when it first occurs.Server 101 may receive the photo and recognize the damage using itsimage recognition module. Server 101 may be able to automaticallydisplay the information to the appropriate insurance adjuster to handlethe claim (e.g., via workbench). For example, server 101 may analyze aphoto and recognize that there is water damage in a kitchen. The claimmay then be forwarded to the adjuster who has best handled similarsituations (e.g., provided most accurate assessments for situationsinvolving water damage to a room, etc.). Information about eachadjusters estimate accuracy may be stored in memory 115.

FIG. 9 illustrates screens that may be displayed by the mobile deviceafter the user captures images of the room as requested in screen 805.Screen 901 shows an updated Incident Activity screen 601. As shown inscreen 901, Source of Damage button 901 b may display a check mark tonotify the user that she has completed that step. Likewise, Kitchenbutton 901 c may display a check mark after the user has captured thedamage in the room and captured the scene of the room in previousscreens. The user may then select Dining Room button 901 d to performsimilar steps of capturing, reviewing, and transferring images withinthe dining room as she did for the kitchen. The user repeat the sameprocess for each damage area listed in Incident Activity screen 601.

In certain aspects, after the user submits damage images of a damageditem, the mobile device may display Item Details screen 903. The usermay input information about the item (e.g., how old the item is, howmuch the user paid for the item, additional comments, etc.). The usermay hit the Submit button 903 a as highlighted to submit the itemdetails to server 101. Server 101 may receive and store the item detailsprovided by the user in database 121 with the image and otherdescriptors.

In some aspects, the mobile device may display Document Photos screen905. Document Photos screen 905 may display instructions for capturingimages of documents (e.g., “Take at least 3 photos of the damaged item.Try to include the serial number or model number of the item in one ofyour photos.”). The user may then select Take Photos button 905 a to gothrough the process of capturing, reviewing, and transferring images viascreens similar to those illustrated in FIG. 7. The user may take aphoto of a document (e.g., invoice, estimate, receipt, serial number,etc.) and submit the photo to server 101. Server 101 may include adocument recognition module that may be able to recognize the text inthe document (e.g., via OCR recognition). The document recognitionmodule may also put the information it recognizes from the document intoa format where the text may be more easily recognized (e.g., MicrosoftWord, Excel, an itemized list, etc.) and associate the text with theoriginal photo in database 121. Server 101 may analyze the storedinformation to provide feedback to the user, such as providing anestimate to the user. For instance, server 101 may receive a photo of areceipt for a new dresser along with a photo of a user's damageddresser. The document recognition module may recognize the price of thenew dresser and store this information along with the image of thedresser in database 121 and associate that information with a user'sprofile. The server 101 (or insurance employee) may then analyze theimage of the dresser and receipt for the new dresser and provide anestimate that is the amount of the new dresser provided by the user.

In some aspects, server 101 may automatically associate a receipt withthe damaged item. The user may capture an image of an item (e.g., adoor) and an image of a receipt. The document recognition module mayrecognize the document is a receipt for a door and the image recognitionmodule may recognize that the image is of a door. Thus server 101 mayassociate the receipt with the door in database 121. Also, server 101may associate received images or documents with images or documentsalready stored in memory 115. For instance, the user may take a photo ofthe receipt for a dresser when he purchases the dresser. Server 101 maystore the receipt in memory 115. At some time later, the user may submita photo of the damaged dresser. Server 101 may associate the dresserwith the receipt to provide an estimate to the user (e.g., the valuelisted in the receipt). Similarly, server 101 may compare images withstored receipts provided by other users or third-parties to determine areplacement cost for the items displayed in the images.

Server 101 may also search web sites (e.g. via the Internet) to identifymore descriptors for damaged property provided by a user. The imagerecognition module may identify the damaged property (e.g., a door), andthe server may access web sites that are likely to sell the damagedproperty (e.g., web sites for a warehouse store, home improvement,etc.). Thus, server 101 may be able obtain more information about thedamaged property via a retail website (e.g., price, make, model, etc.).

In certain aspects, after the user captures document images, the mobiledevice may display Document Details screen 907. The user may inputinformation at screen 907 (e.g., date of the document, price of theproperty as displayed in the document, additional comments, etc.). Then,the user may select the Submit button 907 a as highlighted to submit thedocument details to server 101 for storage and analysis as discussedabove.

The mobile device may, then, display a screen such as screen 909 (e.g.,an updated Incident Activity screen 601). As shown in screen 909, theuser may upload images and item details for belongings (e.g.,television, mixer, rug, etc.) and documents (e.g., police report, etc.).For each belonging and document, the user may undergo a similar processas described above (e.g., the user may select the button for the desireditem on the incident activity screen, mobile device displaysinstructions for capturing images of the item, mobile device displays acamera screen for capturing images of the item, mobile device displays areview screen for captured images, mobile device displays screen(s) forallowing a user to provide additional details of the item, and the usersubmits the image (and any additional details) to server 101). IncidentActivity screen 909 provides notifications at buttons 909 a, 909 b, 909c, and 909 d that the user has performed the each of the requisite steps(e.g., check marks).

FIG. 10 provides exemplary display screens of an item (e.g. a mixerselected at button 909 b) captured by a user using the Application.Screen 1001 displays a camera screen 701 where the mobile device'scamera lens has been focused on the mixer. When the user moves themobile device, the focus in the camera screen will change to whereverthe lens is pointed (e.g., like a camera). When the user selects shutterbutton 1001 a, the mobile device may display screen 1003. Screen 1003displays the image captured at screen 1001, along with options to usethe image or retake the image (e.g., as explained for screen 703). Whenthe user selects Use button 1003 b, the mobile device may display screen1005 (e.g., similar to screen 705). If the user selects Add Captionbutton 1005 a, the mobile device may display screen 1007. Screen 1007includes a dropdown menu and keypad to enable the user to inputadditional details about the image. The user may select Cancel button1007 a to escape screen 1007 and return to screen 1005, or the user mayselect Add button 1007 b to add a caption and proceed to screen 1009. Atscreen 1009, the mobile device may display the image (e.g., the mixer)with the caption inputted by the user at screen 1007. If the userselects the Take Another Photo button 1009 a, the mobile device mayreturn to a camera screen display 1001. If the user selects Continuebutton 1009 b, the mobile device may display an Incident Activity screen(e.g., screen 909).

The user may be able to review details of items he has captured on themobile device at Incident Activity scree 909. For example, if the userselects Mixer button 909 b as highlighted, the mobile device may displayItem Details screen 911. The user may review the details he inputtedabout the mixer (e.g., mixer is 5 years old, user paid $323.23 for themixer, etc.). Screen 911 may also display the photos captured of themixer. If the user selects a photo as highlighted, the mobile device maydisplay screen 913, which allows the user to review the captured image(e.g., similar to screen 1003). If the user selects Retake button 913 a,the mobile device may display camera screen 1001 so that the user mayreplace the image with a new image. If the user selects Use button 913,the mobile device may return to Item Details screen 911. The user mayselect Home button 911 a to return to Incident Activity screen 909.

In some aspects, the data captured at the mobile device may not betransferred to server 101 until the user selects Submit button 909 e. Insuch aspects, when the user selects Submit button 909 e, the mobiledevice may display the screens shown in FIG. 11. First, the mobiledevice may display screen 1101, which may notify the user that thesubmitted information is being uploaded to server 101. Screen 1101 mayinclude a graphical display of the time remaining before all of the datais uploaded to server 101. After all of the data has been uploaded toserver 101, the mobile device may display screen 1103. Screen 1103 maydisplay an Incident Activity screen with a notification (e.g., locksymbol) to the user that the data has been submitted to server 101. Insome aspects, the user may not be able to further edit the data after ithas been submitted to server 101.

After the server receives images at step 309, the server may determineif the images are acceptable at step 311. Server 101 may utilize theimage recognition module and document recognition module to determinewhether the image is acceptable (e.g., for quality, content, etc.).Server 101 may determine that the content of the image is not acceptableif, for example, the property captured in the images is unrelated to thesubmitted claim (e.g., submit claim for damage television, but submit aphoto of a dresser). Server 101 may also analyze the images to determineif the quality is unacceptable (e.g., blurry, low light, only a portionof a scene or item, etc.). If the image is unacceptable, server 101 (or,e.g., an insurance company) may notify the user that the images areunacceptable, so that the user may return to step 307 to submitacceptable images. In some aspects, server 101 may be able to sendmessages to the mobile device indicating why the image was unacceptable(e.g., “The previous image was too blurry. Please hold the camera stilland take another photo.”). In instances where the user submits multipleimages of the same property, server 101 may analyze each of the imagesand select the acceptable images for analysis without notifying the userthat other images were unacceptable.

When a user captures video data, server 101 may be able select optimalframes in the video that best capture the reported damage using theimage recognition module. The image recognition module may analyze thevideo and eliminate the noise so that the best frames or photos are usedfor the claims adjustment process. Server 101 may select optimal framesin real time or after the user has submitted the video via the mobiledevice. In some aspects, server 101 may provide a feedback loop to themobile device so that the user may determine if the frames identified bythe server 101 best identify the damage.

In some aspects, server 101 may use the image recognition module anddocument recognition module to detect fraudulent claim submissions. Whenserver 101 receives an image of damaged property from the mobile device,server 101 may compare the image to images stored in database 121.Server 101 may compare the received image to other images received fromthe user to detect fraudulent behavior. For example, server 101 maystore an image of property (e.g., a dresser) that the user provided atsome previous time (e.g., on the date of purchase). When the usersubmits a claim for damage to the dresser, server 101 may automaticallycompare the image of the damaged dresser to the image of the new dresserto detect any inconsistencies (e.g., the new dresser had a maple finishbut the damaged dresser has an oak finish). Server 101 may performsimilar analyses for received documents (e.g., claim is for a dresser,but the image of the receipt is for a table). In certain aspects, server101 may utilize data received from sensors in the mobile device to helpdetect fraud (e.g., user submits claim for water damage to insuredhouse, but compass and accelerometer data indicate that the submittedimages were taken at another location). In some aspects, server 101 maynotify the user of the detect inconsistencies and ask the user to repeatthe processes described above to submit an acceptable image.

In certain aspects, a user may be able to upload images to server 101that were not captured using the Application, but are stored in themobile device camera roll. Server 101 may use the image recognitionmodule to determine whether an uploaded image has been manipulated(e.g., color changes, altered dimensions, etc.) in order to detect fraud(e.g., server 101 stores previously uploaded images of the user'sinsured gold earrings, but received image of damaged earrings are silverand have been altered to appear gold in the image). The ability toanalyze uploaded images at server 101 may be beneficial if an insureditem is stolen and the user has not previously provided an image of theitem. If, for instance, a user's insured earrings are stolen, she may beable to upload another image which displays the earrings (e.g., she mayupload a family photo from her camera roll in which she is wearing theearrings). Server 101 may, then, analyze the image and provide feedbackto the user.

If server 101 determines that the images are acceptable, it may proceedto step 313 and provide the user with feedback (e.g., estimates, cost ofrepair, cost of replacement, offer for insurance, mitigation dispatch,etc.). In some aspects, server 101 may analyze received images toprovide the user with hypothetical estimates. The user may captureimages of property using the mobile device and upload the images toserver 101. The user may then be able to provide hypothetical scenariosfor response at server 101 (e.g., user may ask whether the propertywould be covered for a particular type of damage, how much is the usercovered, what are the ten worst cases scenarios that could bepotentially avoided by buying more coverage, etc.). Server 101 mayrespond to the hypothetical scenarios by providing feedback (e.g.,offering recommendations for additional coverage, recommend preventativemeasures and identify best practices, identify items in the room thatmay require maintenance and others that don't, etc.). Server 101 mayrecommend contractors based on the extent of the damage. Server 101 mayprovide feedback by offering discounts if a user acts on a suggestedaction (e.g., server 101 suggests buying a new water heater and mayoffer an insurance discount if the user purchases a new water heater,etc.).

FIG. 12 illustrates exemplary screens displayed by an Application in amobile device in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.Screens 1201 and 1203 show an exemplary Incident Activity screen(similar to screen 601). Screen 1201 may serve as a home screen for theuser (e.g., Jane Doe) when she logs into the Application. Screen 1203displays another view of the home screen that may be displayed when theuser scrolls down the screen on the mobile device. In this example, theuser may have completed the requisite steps for reporting damage to afence, as indicated by the check mark at 1203 a. The user may havecaptured the images using a single mobile device, or in some aspects mayuse more than one mobile device to capture images. Server 101 mayutilize cloud synching technology to enable a user to pick up where sheleft of in the process from various mobile devices.

If the user selects Fence button 1203 a, the mobile device may displayscreen 1205. The user can review the information she provided for thefence at screen 1205. She may also scroll down the screen to view screen1207. Additionally, the mobile device may display screen 1209 so theuser may review or edit the fence details she previously provided.

It should be appreciated that the actions performed at the server (e.g.,server 101), described herein, may also, or in the alternative, beperformed at the mobile device.

The foregoing descriptions of the disclosure have been presented forpurposes of illustration and description. They are not exhaustive and donot limit the disclosure to the precise form disclosed. Modificationsand variations are possible in light of the above teachings or may beacquired from practicing of the disclosure. For example, the describedimplementation includes software by the present disclosure may beimplemented as a combination of hardware and software or in hardwarealone. Additionally, although aspects of the present disclosure aredescribed as being stored in memory, one skilled in the art willappreciate that these aspects can also be stored on other types ofcomputer-readable media, such as secondary storage devices, like harddisks, floppy disks, or CD-ROM.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: receiving, by a server via awebsite interface supported by the server, captured images of at leastone room including at least one item within the at least one room thathas been damaged, the captured images being received in a firstresolution; subsequent to receiving the captured images in the firstresolution, receiving, by the server, the images via the websiteinterface in a second, higher resolution; using metadata captured withthe images, stitching, by the server, the received images in the firstresolution or the second resolution together to generate a scene of theat least one room; generating, by the server, dimensions of the at leastone room based on the generated scene of the at least one room;comparing, by the server, the generated dimensions of the at least oneroom to the at least one item in the at least one room that has beendamaged to determine an extent of damage to the at least one item; andgenerating, by the server and based on the extent of the damage, anestimated cost to repair the at least one damaged item; and transmittingthe generated estimated cost to a user.
 2. The method of claim 1,wherein the scene is a panoramic view of the at least one room.
 3. Themethod of claim 2, wherein the generating the scene of the at least oneroom includes creating, by the server, a three-dimensional view of theat least one room.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein determining theextent of damage to the at least one item in the at least one room thathas been damaged includes comparing the received images to pre-storedimages of the at least one item.
 5. The method of claim 1, furtherincluding: detecting, by the server and based on captured metadata, gapsbetween received images.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein determiningthe extent of the damage to the at least one item in the at least oneroom that has been damaged includes determining dimensions of thedamage.
 7. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium havingcomputer-executable program instructions stored thereon that whenexecuted by a processor, cause at least one computing device to:display, by a mobile device, a user interface including instructions forcapturing images of damaged property for use in an insurance claim;capture, by the mobile device, images of at least one room, the imagesincluding at least one item within the at least one room that has beendamaged and the images being captured in accordance with theinstructions displayed on the user interface of the mobile device;determine a network condition; responsive to determining that thenetwork condition is at a first level, transmit the captured images fromthe mobile device to a server via a website interface supported by theserver in a first resolution; subsequent to transmission of the imagesin the first resolution, determine that the network condition is at asecond level; responsive to determining that the network condition is ata second level, transmit the captured images from the mobile device tothe server via the website interface in a second, higher resolution;receive, by the mobile device and from the server, an estimated cost torepair the at least one item, the estimated cost to repair being based,at least in part, on the captured images; and display, on a display ofthe mobile device, the estimated cost to repair the at least one item.8. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 7,wherein the estimated cost to repair the at least one item is displayedvia an interactive user interface.
 9. The non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium of claim 8, further includinginstructions that, when executed, cause the at least one computingdevice to: generating, based on metadata captured with the images, ascene of the at least one room.
 10. The non-transitory computer readablestorage medium of claim 9, wherein generating the scene of the at leastone room includes creating a three-dimensional view of the at least oneroom.
 11. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim9, wherein generating the scene of the at least one room includesstitching images together to create a panoramic view of the at least oneroom.
 12. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim7, wherein the mobile device provides an overlay of rulers at a displayscreen for measuring dimensions of the at least one room.
 13. Thenon-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 7, furtherincluding instructions that, when executed, cause the at least onecomputing device to: detect, based on the captured metadata, gapsbetween received images.
 14. The non-transitory computer-readablestorage medium of claim 7, wherein determining the extent of the damageincludes determining dimensions of the damage.